Philip Oakey
Philip Oakey (born 2 October 1955)[2] is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead singer, songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop band the Human League. Aside from the Human League, Oakey has enjoyed an extensive solo music career and has collaborated with numerous other artists and producers.[3]
Philip Oakey
2 October 1955
- Singer
- songwriter
- producer
1977–present
Phil Oakey
- Vocals
- keyboards
- keytar
Oakey was among the most visually distinctive music artists of the early 1980s. At the height of their success, the Human League released the triple platinum-certified studio album Dare (1981) and Oakey co-wrote and sang the multimillion-selling single "Don't You Want Me," a #1 single in both the US and UK, where it remains the 28th-highest-selling single of all time. Oakey has been lead vocalist of the Human League for more than 40 years. With the band, he has sold more than 20 million records worldwide.[4][5] He continues recording and performing internationally.[3]
Early life[edit]
Oakey's father worked for the General Post Office and moved jobs regularly: the family moved to Coventry when Oakey was an infant, to Leeds when he was five and to Birmingham when he was nine, attending Catherine-de-Barnes primary school near Solihull and gaining a scholarship to the independent Solihull School. He settled in Sheffield when he was 14.[6] He was educated at King Edward VII School in Sheffield. He left school at 18 without finishing his exams and worked in a number of casual jobs, including one in a university bookshop and as a porter at Thornbury Annex Hospital in Sheffield in 1977. In 1978, Oakey married his girlfriend Anthea Helliwell, whom he had met at school, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1980.
Entry into music[edit]
Oakey's entry into music in 1977 was unintentional. He had purchased a saxophone but had abandoned efforts to learn how to play it, and he had no aspiration to be in a pop group.
In Sheffield in 1977, Oakey's former schoolmate Martyn Ware, along with Ian Craig Marsh and Adi Newton,[7] had formed a band called the Future. They were part of an emerging genre of music that used analogue synthesisers instead of traditional instruments, a style later to be termed synth-pop. Although they had recorded a number of demo tapes, the Future remained unsigned. Newton departed the band after they were rejected by record companies. Ware decided that the Future needed a dedicated lead singer to replace Newton. His first choice, Glenn Gregory, was unavailable, so Ware suggested Oakey to Marsh. Although Oakey had little music experience, he was well known in the Sheffield social scene for his eclectic dress sense and classic motorcycle. Ware invited Oakey to join the Future by leaving a note on Oakey's front door. Oakey joined the band in mid-1977.[3]
Fashion style[edit]
Throughout his career and in his personal life, Oakey has been a flamboyant dresser and fashion trendsetter. His outrageous dress sense and original hairstyle would make him an iconic figure of the early 1980s music scene.[3]
Before 1977, during the era of punk rock, Oakey adopted various styles; at one time having a crew cut, he later had collar-length hair and once appeared in a club wearing a household power lead with a plug as a necklace. He also often wore bike leathers and rode a classic Norton motorcycle around Sheffield.
Soon after the Future transformed into the Human League, Oakey wanted a look that would make him stand out from other lead singers. After spotting a girl on a Sheffield bus with a Veronica Lake hairstyle, he was inspired to adopt a lopsided geometric hairstyle, shoulder length on one side and short on the other. Between 1978 and 1979 with his unique hairstyle, he maintained a masculine dress style and at one time wore a full beard.
In 1979, inspired by the 1970s glam rock style of Brian Eno, Oakey began wearing makeup. His style became increasingly more feminine, including the use of bright red lipstick.
By 1981, after the formation of the new Human League, Oakey's trademark style of the early 1980s was complete. Along with full makeup, Oakey had begun wearing androgynous clothing. The 1980 addition of teenage schoolgirls Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall to the band complemented his look. At times, all three would wear the same eyeliner and lipstick. Oakey and Catherall, who were to enter into a romantic relationship, often looked and dressed almost identically.[9]
The media regularly commented and joked about Oakey's style. He pushed his style further and began wearing high-heeled shoes. He already had both his ears pierced and wore dangling women's diamante earrings. On a 1981 poster, Oakey posed shirtless with pierced nipples linked by a gold chain. Oakey says of his early-1980s style: "I deliberately wore clothes that either men or women could wear. But I don't think I ever really looked like a woman. And I never wore very masculine clothes."[14]
Oakey also appeared in public in full makeup, dressed in his eclectic style. He states that "Sheffield was so accepting that no one ever blinked an eyelid."[9]
At the time of the 1986 Crash album, Oakey wore designer clothes and a manicured look that was inspired by Sean Young's character in the film Blade Runner.
By 1990, the Human League had begun to decline. For the Romantic? album, Oakey wore denim and leather and readopted his lopsided hairstyle from 1981 in a rebellion against "the male model look of Crash." The band went through dark times and the style was quickly abandoned.
When the band returned in 1995, Oakey, approaching the age of 40, appeared with designer clothes and a suave, short, neat haircut. He generally wears a simple Armani suit on the stage.
Oakey has a Prince Albert piercing. In 2007, he said, "Yes, I have a Prince Albert ring. I had it done about six years ago. It didn't hurt too much ... when I pierced my ear it hurt more!"[15]
Oakey deliberately does not have an official website, not wanting to do what others do, and apparently believing it is expensive to have one.[1]